Historic Caitlin Court in historic Downtown Glendale. Photo from City of Glendale.

Historic Downtown Glendale has been named by USA Today & Sunset Magazine as one of the country’s ten best places for shopping. The historic downtown has two neighborhoods – Historic Catlin Court with its white picket fences and mature shade trees welcoming visitors to the bungalows-turned-specialty shops, and Old Towne, boasting brick-trimmed sidewalks and glowing gaslights leading the way to the famous antique stores and ethnic eateries.

Glendale Glitters, an annual beautiful display of holiday lights, is one of several events that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to Glendale each year. Photo from the City of Glendale

The 90-plus specialty and boutique shops in downtown Glendale are noted for the retail-chain-free collection of stores, which feature everything from eclectic and funky fashion and accessories to pop-culture collectibles, and the diversity of restaurants serve up everything from savory, wood-fired pizzas to two-scoop ice-cream cones. In fact, the critically-acclaimed collection of ethnic eateries in downtown Glendale includes Polish, Italian, German, Mexican and Vietnamese. Glendale’s downtown is also home to award-winning festivals that attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, which include Glendale Glitters and the Glendale Chocolate Affaire

Old Towne in Downtown Glendale. Photo from the City of Glendale

Caption: Historic Downtown Glendale has been named as one of the country’s best places for shopping. Photo from City of Glendale. Photo from the City of Glendale.

Kids can have fun and learn about Sonoran Desert ecology at Glendale libraries this June and July. The Great Arizona Puppet Theater will present a free puppet show, “Hotel Saguaro,” at the Foothills Branch Library, 19055 N. 57th Ave., on June 15 at 2 p.m. and at the Glendale Main Library, 5959 W. Brown St., on July 29 at 3 p.m.

“Hotel Saguaro” is sponsored by the Glendale Water Services Department – Conservation and Sustainable Living Division. The show is funded by the Arizona Game and Fish Department Heritage Fund.

This award-winning puppet show features Sammy Saguaro, his wise Grandpa, and all the desert animals that call the saguaro their home. Audiences will discover how the saguaro supports a diversity of Sonoran Desert wildlife by providing food and shelter. An entertaining and educational post-show discussion is included.

The 45-minute play is recommended for kindergarten to third grade students and families. No registration is required. For more information, call 623-930-3550.

For the third consecutive year, the city of Glendale this month is launching a campaign designed to reinforce safety messages during the summer with residents; entitled Operation Safe Summer, kicking off in conjunction with Heat Safety Awareness Day on May 22. The campaign will feature a public event at Westgate Entertainment District on June 19, as well as a bottled water drive throughout the city.

There are several departments that will offer programs and events to remind residents of their mission: to keep the city’s residents safe with an outstanding quality of life. These departments include the Police and Fire Departments, the Transportation Services Department and Parks, Recreation and Library Services.

With a dedicated website and logo, the campaign features a different safety message each week, covering timely summer topics such as kids out of school for the summer, children being home alone and out riding bicycles more often, heat-related issues, vacation and travel safety, BBQ and fireworks precautions, and of course, water and pool safety. Information will be distributed through public facilities in Glendale and at certain events, as well.

The public event will be held on June 19,  6:30-8:30 p.m., called “Surviving the Summer,” at Westgate Entertainment District, 6770 N. Sunrise Blvd. Held in the shopping center’s Fountain Park, this free event will feature a variety of agencies and vendors to educate residents on water and sun safety and much more.

In addition, donated water bottles will be collected at all Glendale fire stations throughout the city, as well as the Glendale Visitor Center in downtown Glendale. The water donation drive will run through the Glendale CVB’s Christmas in July event on July 18. Water will be distributed through Maricopa Association of Government’s (MAG) Heat Relief Regional Network, to the most vulnerable populations in the region to stay hydrated and healthy. MAG’s program offers both hydration stations and refuge locations throughout Maricopa County. For more information on this program, visit http://www.azmag.gov/heatrelief.

For more information on the event and the Operation Safe Summer campaign, including great tips and resources you can take advantage of, visit www.glendaleaz.com/safesummer.

You may not always realize it, but your city or town’s public works department is at work all day to keep your life running smoothly. From making sure your recycling is picked up at your curb and the streets are paved for your commute into work; to ensuring that water is always clean when coming out of the tap and street lights are blinking correctly for a safe drive home, a city’s public works department is responsible for many of our day-to-day activities. 

May 17-23 is Public Works Week! This annual events celebrates public works professionals of our Arizona cities and towns who work tirelessly. The National Public Works Week is a celebration of the tens of thousands of men and women in North America who provide and maintain the infrastructure and services collectively known as public works. 

Communities across Arizona are taking time to recognize individuals who dedicate services to cities and towns, which include road construction, cleaning and maintenance services, sanitation and recycling, fleet services, and various other community provisions.

The City of Glendale and the City of Surprise both issued proclamations at their recent council meetings to announce their celebration of National Public Works Week and thank those members of their public works departments for their dedication.

City of Glendale issuing a proclamation celebrating National Public Works Week and recognizing those individuals who serve on their public works department 

It’s National Safety Month. To help kick off this month, Glendale is launching a campaign designed to reinforce safety messages during the summer. The campaign is called Operation: Safe Summer and it culminates with a public event at Westgate on June 20.

There are several departments that will offer programs and events to remind residents of their mission: to keep the city’s residents safe with an outstanding quality of life. These departments include the Police and Fire Departments, the Transportation Services Department and Parks, Recreation and Library Services.

With a dedicated website and logo, the campaign features a different safety message each week, covering timely summer topics such as kids out of school for the summer, children being home alone and out riding bicycles more often, heat-related issues, vacation and travel safety, BBQ and fireworks precautions, and of course, water and pool safety. Information will be distributed through public facilities in Glendale and at certain events, as well.

The public event will be held on June 20,  6:30-8:30 p.m., called “Surviving the Summer,” at Westgate Entertainment District, 6770 N. Sunrise Blvd. Held in the shopping center’s Fountain Park, this free event will feature a variety of agencies and vendors to educate residents on water and sun safety and much more.

For more information on the event and the Operation: Safe Summer campaign, including great tips and resources you can take advantage of, visit www.glendaleaz.com/safesummer.

This October, you might notice a bit more color while walking through the streets of Phoenix or Glendale. Both cities are decorating in pink and purple colors to commemorate good causes.

Downtown Phoenix is turning purple to bring awareness to Domestic Violence Month. City landmarks and buildings like Tovrea Castle, Phoenix City Hall and Phoenix Convention Center will be lit up purple for the month of October. Additionally, a section of First Street will be painted purple, while garbage trucks and fleet vehicles will be outfitted with posters and magnets displaying information about domestic violence. A “purple flash mob” was filmed in Phoenix Cityscape and Phoenix City officials have filmed PSAs about the importance of detection and prevention of Domestic Violence.

The City of Phoenix is committed to becoming a national leader in preventing and responding to domestic violence. It is one of the most widespread and dangerous health and safety challenges facing our community today.

“I hope this display of purple during October serves as a reminder that stopping domestic violence is a priority for our community,” said Mayor Greg Stanton.  “We must be vigilant about maintaining the effort year-round by continuing to invest real resources to fight domestic violence, including better training for police officers allowing them to detect signs of abuse when responding to calls.”

Meanwhile, in downtown Glendale, merchants are painting the city pink to show support for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Downtown Glendale businesses are decorating storefronts in the signature pink breast cancer color. In addition, select businesses will be offering special discounts, merchandise and menu items to benefit Susan G. Komen Central and Northern Arizona (Komen CAN AZ) and other local breast cancer programs.

Glendale residents and visitors will have the chance to participate in the showing of support by voting for their favorite pink business. Community members are asked to vote for their favorite shop by leaving a dollar donation collection jars that benefit Komen CAN AZ.

Downtown Glendale merchants will also show their support for the 21^st Annual Susan G. Komen Phoenix Race for the Cure®, taking place in Phoenix on Sunday, Oct. 13, by displaying event posters and brochures and by joining the Glendale Goes Pink team.